// PROJECT SUMMARY
An ENT specialist with extensive experience treating snoring and sleep apnea approached us with a hypothesis for a different type of sleep mask based on controlling the composition of air available for rebreathing.
Before considering development of a final product, the hypothesis first had to be tested.
JPM Systems developed a functional research prototype combining the physical mask, CO₂ sensing electronics, data acquisition and visualization software, creating a platform that allowed the medical concept to be measured, tested and evaluated with real data.
// THE PROBLEM
Early-stage innovation often begins with an idea that cannot yet be specified as a product.
In this case, the client had a medical hypothesis that adjusting the amount of exhaled air available for rebreathing could influence the CO₂ concentration inside a sleep mask. The key question was whether the desired and sufficiently stable CO₂ concentration could be achieved through passive adjustments to mask volume and fresh-air flow, or whether active regulation would ultimately be required.
There was no existing device that could answer these questions.
Before developing a commercial product, we therefore needed to build the experimental infrastructure required to validate the underlying hypothesis.
// THE SOLUTION
We developed a configurable sleep-mask prototype together with a complete system for measuring and analyzing CO₂ concentration during use.
The physical mask was designed so that parameters affecting airflow and internal air volume could be modified between experiments. This allowed different passive regulation concepts, such as adjustable fresh-air openings and changes in effective breathing volume, to be evaluated.
At the same time, we developed the electronics required to measure CO₂ concentration in real time.
The measurement system was connected to custom software for data acquisition, storage and visualization, allowing the development and medical teams to review what was actually happening inside the mask during experiments.
Instead of relying on assumptions, design decisions could therefore be based on measured data.
// OUR WORK
JPM Systems was responsible for:
- – R&D and concept development
- – System architecture
- – Experimental prototype development
- – Physical sleep-mask development
- – Mechanical design
- – Industrial design support
- – Thermoforming and prototype manufacturing
- – Adjustable airflow and mask-volume concepts
- – Custom electronics development
- – CO₂ sensor selection and integration
- – Embedded systems development
- – Data acquisition
- – Custom software development
- – Data logging and storage
- – Data visualization
- – Experimental setup development
- – Prototype testing
- – Preparation of multiple research prototypes
// KEY CHALLENGES
Turning a Medical Hypothesis into an Engineering Experiment
The starting point wasn't a conventional product specification.
The first question was simply: does the proposed principle work well enough to justify developing a product around it?
Our role was therefore to translate a medical hypothesis into measurable engineering parameters and then build the hardware and software required to investigate them.
This meant defining what should be measured, how it should be measured and which physical parameters of the mask needed to be adjustable during experimentation.
Measuring What Happens Inside the Mask
To understand whether different mask configurations produced the desired effect, CO₂ concentration had to be measured continuously during use.
This required selecting an appropriate sensing technology and integrating it into a compact experimental system while considering challenges such as humidity, condensation and sensor placement.
The resulting electronics turned the physical prototype into a measurement instrument, rather than simply a mask.
Building the Software Around the Experiment
Collecting sensor values alone wasn't sufficient.
Researchers needed to see how CO₂ concentration changed over time and compare results between different configurations and experiments.
We therefore developed software for capturing, storing and visualizing the measurement data, creating a complete feedback loop: modify the prototype → perform the experiment → collect data → analyze the result → modify the prototype again.
Passive vs. Active Regulation
An important research question was whether the desired behavior could be achieved using a purely passive mechanical solution.
A passive product could potentially be simpler, smaller and easier to manufacture. However, if passive airflow and volume adjustments proved insufficient, the architecture also had to consider the possibility of future sensor-based active regulation.
The prototype therefore needed to help answer an architectural question before significant resources were invested into final product development.
Developing for Real Sleep Conditions
A technically functional prototype still had to be usable while sleeping.
Size, weight, transparency, airflow resistance, sealing and the ability to sleep on one's side all influenced the mechanical design.
The mask therefore had to balance experimental flexibility with enough comfort to allow meaningful testing under realistic conditions.
// THE RESULT
The project transformed a medical hypothesis into a testable physical and digital R&D platform.
Instead of immediately investing in development of a final product, the client gained a configurable mask, CO₂ measurement electronics and data-analysis software that could be used to experimentally evaluate the concept and guide subsequent development decisions.
The project demonstrates an important part of custom product development and R&D engineering: sometimes the first product you need to build isn't the final product at all.
It is the tool that allows you to measure, learn and determine what the final product should be.